Insert Bad Pun Relating to Change
by CamitheQuack
Summary: Meet Drake, your typical high school freshman. He's as normal as a kid could get, until one day his sister gets him into My Litte Pony: Friendship is Magic. Mortified of his interests, Drake takes desperate measures to hide his secrets, and things get messy... (Protag turns into changeling. Set in Human world.)
1. Chapter 1: A Strange Addiction

**Hello! Just a foreword about this story: This is also on , and can be read under the same name. Also, this is not a HIE or POE. The protag stays on Earth for the duration of the story as is world turns on his head. I like to let my readers know what they are getting into before they read :) Let me know what you think!**

* * *

Drake Maddox Traffer sat in the back of classroom 206, his head on his desk and a small stream of drool pooling out of his mouth. This did not amuse his Social Studies teacher, Mr. Dune.

"MR. TRAFFER!"

"Hmmmm? Is breakfast ready?" It took Drake a couple of seconds to register his surroundings and realize what he just uttered, but by that point, the entire class had already erupted in laughter. Even the teacher was working hard to not crack a smile.

Drake pulled his hoodie over his head and yanked the shoestrings until his face was completely concealed from the outside world.

Under the instruction of the teacher, he reluctantly removed it.

"Now I don't know if you know this or not, but this is Social Studies, not naptime. If you don't find The French Revolution interesting or have the audacity to take notes, I suggest you go back to the preschool across the street."

The class giggled and Drake faintly heard someone whisper to their neighbor, "Rekt by the teacher."

The muttering eventually died down and Mr. Dune continued with his lecture on Louis Alexandre Berthier, unaware of the thoughts that now traveled through Drake's at the moment. He had to get home. ASAP.

Drake was an average kid, as average as they go. Brown hair, brown eyes, casual clothes, the whole package. He did his homework. He got in trouble occasionally. He took interest in a couple of girls. He had a decent amount of friends. Sometimes, he felt like a face in the crowd, a clone perhaps. He even had all the same hobbies as his friends, skateboarding, Star Wars, and video games. That was, until 2 weeks ago.

* * *

"Drake, I haven't got all day! Are you going to sit and watch with me or what!" Screamed his little sister Lena from the couch.

"Jesus, can I make a sandwich in peace?! I'm coming, just give me a minute!"

"I ain't got a minute! I'm starting without you."

"Fine! Watch your stupid horsey show, I don't give a crap."

"I'm gonna tell mom you said a bad word."

"'Crap' is not a bad word."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"Is not."

"Is too."

"FINE! FINE! FINE! I'll watch your dumb show, just shut up!"

Drake trudged out of the kitchen and into the family room, a messy PBJ in his hand. He grunted and flopped on the couch, a good 3 feet away from Lena as she clicked the remote from her hand.

Drake's deadpan expression never faltered as the show began to play.

A narrator started yapping. "Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled the land together and created harmony for all the land… "

 _Ugh what a stupid show,_ He moped internally. _I'm going to hate every second of this. I can't wait until… Hey, the nightmare horse actually looks kinda badass._

Drake's deadpan expression slowly transform into one of interest as the show went along, finding himself actually hooked on the plotline. Twilight Sparkle, the main horse in the show, had been sent to a town called "Ponyville" to make friends and find the "Elements of Harmony" before an evil pony named "Nightmare Moon". When the "Summer Sun Celebration" began and the spotted unicorn silhouette disappeared from the moon, Drake felt his heart-beat quicken. He tried and failed to remind himself that he hated this.

The lights on the TV washed over the siblings in their dark family room as Nightmare Moon appeared in the place of her sister on the balcony of town hall. Drake absentmindedly started biting his thumbnail in anxiety.

"The night... will last... FOREVER! Hahahahaha!" Nightmare yelled as lightning clouds and starry blue mist whipped around her. Twilight bit her lip while the other ponies cowered and…

"To be continued" flashed in curly white letters across a purple background screen.

"WHAT? It can't end there! Is their more?" Drake jumped up and pointed to the screen. When realizing he had said that out loud, he turned to his sister, who was giving him a smug look.

"See?" she said haughtily, "I told you you would like it. Do you want to watch the second episode? I have it right here."

She exited out of the show and found 'Friendship is Magic: Part 2' and hovered over it, giving Drake a coy grin.

"I-I...uh…" Damn it! Was he really wanting to watch the second episode? What was happening to him?

He flopped back on the sofa. "Whatever you want." he grumbled. Lena smirked and clicked play.

* * *

An upbeat My Little Pony theme song played as the credits flashed by. The end of Friendship is Magic: Part 2 left Drake feeling like he was going to throw up. He was enjoying the show. A lot. He wanted to watch more. His inner man felt dead right now.

He shot a sideways glance at his bratty sister. She was passed out on the couch, cheek pressed against the pillow, giving her a somewhat stupid appearance. He pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced at the clock in the kitchen.

10:11 PM

He groaned and half-heartedly began shaking Lena awake. He still had two hours before his dad returned home from...wherever the hell he was.

"Lena, your show is over. Let's get you to bed, alright?" He had to be as gentle with her as possible, cause oh boy, was she a little devil when tired. Last time he tried to wake her up, she ended up flinging a spoonful of mayo at him.

Thankfully, by shaking her awake, she only gave him a stink eye and trudged upstairs into her room. He heard the sounds of dresser drawers being opened and closed, and the sound of water faucets running. After 5 minutes, the light upstairs had shut off and his 9-year old sister was asleep once again.

Drake sat alone in the family room, Netflix still open and running. He shut off the TV as quick as he could and collapsed into the sofa, hands over his face.

 _Crap crap crap! Why do I like this? This is for little girls! This is for 3 year olds, not male high school freshmen! Ugh…_

Suddenly, a thought came to him.

 _Nobody has to know... Yeah! I can just...um...watch it when I'm all alone? Okay… I feel like the world's biggest idiot…"_

Standing up, he walked over to the kitchen table and began to rummage through his backpack, which was sprawled messily over the table cloth. He pulled out his shiny silver iPad, and clicked the home button, the screen flaring to life and his background picture of Darth Maul from Star Wars greeting him.

Glancing around the room, he climbed the steps to the second floor of his home shakily and quietly, as if he might have been robbing a bank. He slowly opened the door to his room and it quietly creaked, almost as if it was telling him not to carry on with his plans.

 _Am I really doing this?_ He thought as he made his way towards the sliding door closet in his room. Pushing it open, he walked in and nestled himself under his hanging shirts. With one hand, he slid the door shut once more. It was pitch black.

 _Yes I am._ With trembling fingers, he reached into his pocket and grabbed a pair of black earbuds, then put them in. As he inserted the plug into the iPad, he opened the Netflix app and clicked on the icon with the smiley face labeled, 'kids'.

He found what he wanted. My Little Pony. The show for whiny little wannabe princess girls. He was watching it. In his closet. He chose too. Nobody made him.

He sucked in as much breath as he could muster, then bravely brought his finger down onto the screen, it making contact with the episode 'The Ticket Master'.

Sweet Jesus, he wanted go dig a hole in his backyard, crawl inside and die from shame right now.

* * *

Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor rode away in a carriage while Spike made a comment about the bachelor party he was going to host. The mane 6 laughed as the camera slowly faded out.

Drake yawned and stretched from his hiding spot. _That was a good episode. I would love to see more of… did I ever get her name? Nah, it doesn't matter, the Queen of the Changelings? Yeah. Welp I think I've had enough._

He shut off his iPad, but not before getting a quick glance at the time. If he had been drinking something, it would have been spewed from his mouth in surprise. He turned the device back on. The large numbers read 4:34 AM.

It was 4 in the fucking morning?!

Quickly, he slid open the closet and bumbled out like an idiot, throwing open his bedroom door and standing in the hallway. He could hear his dad snoring like a leaf blower in his bedroom. After standing in the hallway for a few minutes contemplating his pitiful existence, Drake eventually plodded back to his bedroom and wrapped himself under the covers, wanting to vomit. What the hell was wrong with him?

* * *

2 days later, if anyone took the time to look through Drake's search history, they would find that he had recently googled, 'help i am addicted to my little pony'.

* * *

"Mr. Traffer are you listening?!"

The teacher startled Drake out of his spacy state and back to Earth. He looked away and mumbled.

"Sorry Mr. Dune."

His teacher gave him a look that shot knives then returned to his very boring lecture.

 **RRRRRIIIIIIINNNNGGG!**

Before Mr. Dune had the chance to even say anything, Drake was already out the door.

He dashed down the hallways, avoiding other kids in his way and occasionally bumping into someone. Today was the day. Well, it was supposed to be the day. Hopefully it was the day?

He didn't know. He didn't care, either. He had to get home.

Running as fast as his awkward teenage legs could carry him, he navigated his way down the hall. He thought he might have heard the vice principal yell at him to slow down, but he pretended not to hear.

Bursting out of the open entryway, he was greeted with the warm air and sunshine from the outside world. It felt good, especially since he had been going from one large stuffy classroom to another all day. He sprinted down the walk and kept at this steady pace until he reached his house, about 2 blocks away from the school.

He flung open the door and shut it quickly. After a breath, he leaned against it, sweat dripping down his face.

"Hello?"

No response.

A slow grin crept up the side of his face. They weren't here yet! He was home alone!

He bolted up the stairs, which proved difficult from all his running as he was tripping over his feet every couple of steps.

He powered on his computer, a Mac, typed in his password, (D rth178), and opened Google Chrome. In the search bar, he typed in three letters, but Google auto-filled the rest for him:

"Fim **Fiction** "

Clicking on the link, his cursor zipped across the screen, where the number 1 sat inside of a red box, showing he had one new message.

 **Click**

It was from Fimfiction's lead moderator, Meeester.

He read the title, and that was enough for him.

 **Darth Vader comes to Equestria has been approved**

He let out a shriek of delight. His story had been officially posted! He knew he wasn't an excellent writer, but he didn't care. Now all he had to do was wait for the likes and comments to roll in. (But first, a quick deleting of his search history.)

He was in the middle of reading an amusing story about Gummy the alligator actually being the reincarnation of Jesus Christ when the sound of the front door opening reverberated throughout the house. Lena and Dad were home.

"Drake! Drake! Are you home?"

He closed all of his tabs and slammed his MacBook shut.

"Yeah! I'm here!"

"Alright. Me and your sister stopped at the market on the way home. Sorry for the inconvenience. But you better be doing something productive right now. I don't want to see your grade keep down this road. They're all falling into B's."

"I am working!" He fibbed. "I'm almost done with my math!"

"Okay, I'm going to come check what you have so far. You've been missing so many points lately."

He heard the sound of his father's footsteps rise to a crescendo up the stairs.

"WAIT WAIT WAIT!"

The footsteps ceased.

 _Think think think!_ "Uhhhh… I would prefer if you come check after I'm done...y'know...Why check it now?...Uh, I mean….Uh..." _Useless brain. Useless Useless Useless._

Pause. Drake felt like his father was about to say something, but he was interrupted by Lena, downstairs.

"Daaaaaaddddd..." The way she said it was long, drawn out and annoying. "I need help. Make Katy send me my worksheet copy! She's mad at me because I stole her bracelet given to her by Cody because he's a real jerk and now she-"

Drake could almost feel his father's agitation. "Pumpkin, I'm coming, can you just-"

"Now Katy sent me a bad word! Or I think it is. She said it is. Her message says I'm a C-U-"

"Oh Jesus Christ Drake I'll be back!" And with that his father practically leaped down the stairs.

That was a close call and Drake took that moment to give thanks to whatever deity up above decided to gift his sister with outrageously stupid social drama. He could read in peace now. This was probably going to take a while.

Ever since he had started liking My Little Pony, after a little (a lot) of research, he discovered 'bronies', the annual Bronycon, tons of fan-made songs, animations and a bigger fandom than he could ever imagine.

He didn't feel so alone anymore. And he didn't want to vomit every time he watched an episode, so that was a plus as well.

But there was no way he was going to tell his dad, or his snotty sister, or anyone for that matter about this. He would become a laughing stock for the rest of his life! It all had to be a complete secret.

His brain hurt from thinking about what could happen if someone found out. He'd be dead meat.

Thinking of meat, Drake got out of his chair and made his way into the kitchen downstairs, where his dad was on an angry phone call with a woman he assumed was Katy's mom. He seemed to recall seeing an uneaten sausage in the fridge last time he was there…


	2. Chapter 2: A Suprising Encounter

**I'm just going to be moving along the story train. I'll post meaningful author's notes when I'm done updating this story to all that I have written :)**

* * *

"Hey!"

Drake's best friend, Carson Mendelsohn, ran to catch up with him in the hall. He was tall and blond and almost always wore something green. They shared a love of comic books and Star Wars, which was probably the reason they were so close in the first place.

Drake turned to him and smiled. "What's up?"

"Nothing, but you were in such a hurry yesterday, where did you go? I didn't even get a chance to talk to you, you just bolted. Was something happening?"

Drake stiffened. "Ummm… My new...Star Wars...action figures were coming?"

"Oh, yeah that makes sense. Who'd you get?" Carson began slightly bouncing up and down.

"General Grievous and Rey?"

He stopped mid-bounce. "Why are you phrasing everything as a question?"

Drake shrugged, trying to find something to say so he could change the subject. Ever since he began loving MLP, he kept it secret from everyone, but keeping it from Carson was difficult. They knew everything about each other. Told all their secrets to one another. Carson had even told him about what happened to large cake that was supposed to be served at his Bar Mitzvah which to this day, nobody knows where it had gone. (Carson has the amazing ability to put down a vast amount of sugar and not get sick).

The bell rang.

"Okay, so I'm gonna be late for math? So..Bye?" He turned on his heel and began running moderately fast down the hall, leaving a confused Carson on his own.

Drake remembered something. Quickly, he turned around and yelled to his friend, still running.

"Tell Jason and Alex that I can come this afternoon!"

* * *

"You're late."

"Uh...sorry? I was, y'know, busy."

Alex shrugged and motioned for him to come in, brushing his blue-dyed hair out of his face.

As he walked through the hall of the one-story house, he heard voices from the living room and the sounds of high-tempo arcade music.

"I got a blue shell! Dude, you are so dead."

"I'm miles ahead of you, dimwit."

"We all know Yoshi's the fastest."

"Not true. They're all the same, stupid"

"I have pr- WHAT? How…?"

"Haha! Looks like someone got distracted! 1st place, baby! I win!"

"Stop blowing hot air up your ass, I won the last two games!"

"I know, but I won this one. Are you jealous that I'm better than you at Rainbow Road?"

"Shut up."

"YOU shut up. Your such a whiner, Jason."

"Your face is a whi-Oh hey Drake! We were waiting for you. Wanna play Mario Kart 8? I can set up 4-player." asked Jason. He was a red-headed geek who held the school record for biggest Pokémon card collection.

Drake smiled. "Sure. I need a break from all this homework. We've been bombarded in it recently." he took a seat on the couch, Carson on his left and Jason on his right. Alex took a seat on a broken massage chair next to the sofa, his black clothes blending in with it.

Drake grabbed the Wii U remote sitting on the coffee table.

Carson looked at the clock. "Is that what you were doing? We agreed to meet here at 4 and you show up around 5. You said you'd be here at school than you ran off again. It's like you don't want to be around me. Seriously dude, is there something you're not telling me?"

Drake's heart beat quickened.

"What? Pshh! Everything's great and fine! And great! Couldn't be better!"

Jason leaned forward, poofy hair blocking his left eye's line of sight as he turned to look at Drake.

"That's not what he asked."

Drake didn't respond to this, only selected his character, Luigi, waiting for the others to do the same.

The game was played in silence, not one word spoken. Even Carson was quiet, which never happened, as he always yelled in protest when he ran over a banana or was slowed down in any way. Once Princess Peach, played by Alex, crossed the finish line in first place, Carson put down the controller and turned his body so he was facing Drake.

"Dude, you've been out of it for the last week. You hardly talk to me and become nervous around any of us. You can't keep doing this. Seriously, tell us what's wrong."

For some weird reason, Drake briefly imagined Carson as a psychiatrist but the vision passed as soon as it came, and he began to sweat as 3 pairs of eyes were on him.

 _What do I say? Do I tell the truth? That I like… My Little Pony? What would they think? Would they push me out of the loop? Would they tell everyone at school? What If I get teased so much I have to leave the school? What if Dad finds out? Will he disown me? Will I end up in an orphanage? No, I shouldn't tell. Maybe I can tell them that something urgent is happening instead? Maybe like-_

"Drake?"

"My dad is sick!" The words left his mouth before he even processed them. Jason and Carson looked at one another in shock. Alex raised an eyebrow in surprise. (That's about the most emotion anyone has ever seen him portray.)

"...What?"

"My...um, dad is sick. So I run home to, um, check on him and stuff. And I'm nervous cause I didn't want you to worry cause...yeah?"

Silence.

Jason spoke up.

"Dude! You should have said something! What does he have? Common Cold? Cancer? Rabies? Ebola? Zika? Herpes?"

"Whoa whoa whoa, slow down. He's fine, he just needs… a couple….months of rest?"

"This isn't like, fatal or anything, right?" Carson asked warily.

"No no no! He just...went to the doctor! Yeah. And the doctor said he just needed rest? So yeah. That's why I was late today. I was tending...to my dad."

Drakes stomach twisted into a knot. He was lying to his friends! They trusted him!

What was he doing?!

"Well in that case, I understand. But I don't understand why you were hiding it from us. You know we'll always be there for you, we're like the...uh..." Carson paused and tried to think of the right words. "Justice league? Suicide Squad? Avengers? Nah, whatever. But we always got your back, Kay?"

Drake swallowed the lump in his throat and words came out in a shaky breath.

"Kay."

* * *

Drake kicked a rock as he walked home from Alex's house. Every time he thought about what he did, he felt a pang of nausea send unpleasant chills through his body. He just needed to unwind. With some YouTube. And FIMfiction. And Equestria Daily. Yeah.

He opened the door to his house and heard talking. He figured it must be his dad and Lena, doing homework or something. But as he listened to the conversation progress, he was able to identify the voices. One of them was definitely his dad, but the other…

Oh no.

Oh God no.

Not HER!

Drake flung his backpack off his shoulder and it landed with on the living room couch, the books and papers rattling around inside. He ran towards the kitchen and screeched to a halt in the archway. There on the sofa in front of the TV, was his dad. And next to him was the 60 pounds of lipstick, fake blonde hair and valley girl attitude that Drake despised.

Debbie.

Debbie turned to look at him, showing all of her probably bleached teeth.

"Why hello there, Drake! So nice of you to stop by!"

"...I live here, so…"

"Yes, yes whatever. Now tell me Drake, did you really wear those…"

She paused trying to find the right word.

"...ratty old jeans to school?"

Drake rounded on his dad.

"What's she doing here?"

"Well, she is my girlfriend Drake. You shouldn't be surprised if you see her here often. After all, there be a chance she might move in…" His father said with an eyebrow waggle towards his lover.

Debbie turned to him and made some weird noise from the back of her throat, which Drake could only guess was something of affection, but it sounded more like a dying cat to him.

Peering over his dad's shoulder, he saw Lena sitting at the kitchen table doing homework, making moronic faces at Drake, batting her eyelashes and puffing out her lips; a pretty accurate impression of Debbie.

Drake sniggered.

The caveman-like grunts from the couple stopped.

"I'm sorry Drake," Debbie said haughtily, "Is there something funny?" Her nose was in the air, making her look like in Drake's opinion, Spoiled Rich. He could almost see the two of them together hitting it off and being snotty brats together.

"No."

"Then why are you still here? I have things to attend to with your father."

Like moaning like idiots and making goo-goo eyes at each other.

Lena produced an audible thunk! as her head smacked against the wooden table.

A thought popped in Drake's head.

"Uh, dad?"

His dad turned around with a sigh and faced him, clearly impatient.

"What?"

"If Debbie's here then does that mean...uh…"

Debbie cut in.

"Arbor's upstairs if you wish to see her. Just try not to touch the new sweater she's wearing. I had to import it all the way from UK for her." she said matter-of-factly.

Drake nodded then bolted out of the room and towards the stairs, leaving the family room behind.

Oh God she's probably in my room she's probably in my room.

Drake flung open his bedroom door to reveal a 16 year old girl.

Sitting in his office chair.

On his computer.

On FIMFICTION

ON HIS ACOUNT.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" He screeched. As fast as he could possibly muster, he snatched the computer and shut it off, stuffing it hastily in his closet and turning towards the intruder with fire in his eyes. No matter how angry he was, he still couldn't fail to notice her blonde wavy hair and how it draped over her shoulders perfectly and no matter what she did, it was never tangled and always light, like strands of stray sunshine tied to her-

"Well, that was rude."

The girl, Arbor, shook Drake out of his trance.

"What are you...why… wha?..."

She crossed her arms. "I was in the middle of reading the story you wrote, about Darth Vader. It was cool."

Drake felt his face heat up, but quickly tried to think of cover story. Of all people, I can't let her know! Thinkthinkthinkthink…

"Uh, well, y'know, that's not mine...that's umm….a, uh, uh, uh a friends! Yeah, one of my friends is like, a serious brony n' stuff and he likes to, uh, check his account on my computer, y'know. Though My Little Pony is a stupid show. For babies n' stuff. I told him it was stupid. He's really….Cukoo!" He made a twirling motion with his finger next to his ear and slowly felt a bead of sweat fall down his cheek.

Arbor looked at him with one eyebrow raised. "Okay…" she said, obviously not buying his crappy excuse. "You know, My Little Pony is not a show watched only by girls. True, that was it's original intended audience, but it has grown tremendously in quality since the third generation. I personally love it. I was going to check my account on FIMfiction when I saw that someone else was already logged in. This I take it was...your friend?"

She stressed the last two words in a sarcastic tone.

"Yeahyeahyeahyeah…"

"Give it up."

"OKAY OKAY OKAY I may or may not like the show just stop judging me!"

She smiled a coy smile.

"Knew it. Now, why are you so nervous about it? Lots of people like it…"

Drake ran up and got nose to nose with her.

"Never. Tell. Anyone. Do you hear me? NEVER!" He hissed through gritted teeth.

She didn't so much as flinch. Exhaling loudly, she put one hand one Drake's face and shoved him away, causing him to stumble a couple steps backwards.

"Fine," she said. "I won't tell anyone. But don't think I won't remember how much of a coward you are."

One of Drake's eyes twitched.

She got up out of his office chair and made for the door, when Drake stopped her.

"Arbor?"

She stood in the doorway with one hand on the frame.

"What?"

"Please."

She sighed and turned around. "Listen Drake, you're a good guy. I like you. After all, there's a chance we might be brother and sister one day. But I don't like seeing you holed up in the corner of your closet, watching MLP and constantly stressed out. And before you say anything, don't think I don't know that that's what you do. Last time I was here, I found your iPad and a small Applejack figurine hidden behind your shoe rack."

"...Why were you even in my closet...?"

She waved a hand impatiently. "That doesn't matter. You're gonna have to come out eventually."

"You make it sound like confessing would be like saying that I'm gay…"

"I guess it's kinda like that. Yeah."

A lump formed in Drakes throat. It had now dawned on him that the life he was leading was going to be a lot more difficult than he thought.

Arbor threw her hands up in the air impatiently. "Alright, I've had enough." Her honey-blonde hair whipped from over her shoulder to straight down her back as she turned to leave.

Before she was out of earshot, Drake hear her mumble something that sounded something like: "I'll change your mind tomorrow."

He felt on edge, unsure of how to respond to that. Her voice seemed filled with malice.

Was that supposed to make him feel threatened?

"Wait!"

She paused again.

"What?" she snapped.

Drake grabbed a lump of fabric from his messy bed and handed it to her. "I...um, think this is yours?"

She looked it over then took it from him. "Thanks."

"Isn't that the super expensive sweater that your mother prizes a lot and she didn't want anyone to…"

"I don't care what my mother thinks. She can't tell her ass from a hole in the ground."

"Mmm…"

Awkward silence.

"One more thing." Drake said, rubbing his forearms together, ashamed that he was even about to ask this.

"Hmm?"

He looked at the ground and closed his eyes, waiting for his crush's reaction to the question he was about to ask.

"Who's your favorite pony?"

She smiled and gave a slight chuckle. "Fluttershy. What about you?"

He rubbed the back of his head. "Same."


	3. Chapter 3: An Unexpected Transformation

Changelings.

 _Changelings everywhere._

 _He could not see an inch in front of his face._

 _Buzzing._

 _Lots of buzzing._

 _Holes._

 _Black._

 _He closed his eyes._

 _He opens them._

 _They are gone._

 _No more changelings._

 _Just white._

 _White everywhere._

 _He was confused._

 _Then he saw them._

 _A person._

 _Floating._

 _Below was a red pentagram._

 _It glowed._

 _A lot._

 _Person looked at him._

 _Red robe._

 _Blonde hair._

 _Smile._

 _He was scared._

 _He tried running._

 _That usually worked._

 _It worked in the movies._

 _It did not work here._

 _He couldn't move._

 _He panics._

 _More changelings._

 _No_

 _No_

 _NO_

 _NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO…._

Drake

 _EVERYWHERE_

 _ON TOP OF HIM_

 _HE IS ON THE FLOOR_

 _HIS BODY HURTS_

 _HE WANTS IT TO END_

 _MAKE IT STOP_

Drake?

 _He can't do it._

 _Lights._

 _Noise._

 _Stop._

 _Stop!_

Drake!

 _He reaches a hand up._

 _Like something might be there._

 _Like something could save him._

 _He sees his hand._

 _It's not there._

 _Something else is there instead._

 _Black._

 _No fingers._

 _Holes._

 _It is a hoof._

 _A changeling hoof._

 _His head is splitting._

 _He screams_

 _Make it stop._

Drake!

 _No more._

"Drake!"

"NO!"

"DRAKE FOR GOD'S SAKE WAKE UP!"

Drake sat up and screamed, body thrashing in every direction. He had to get away, he had to he had to he had to he had…

Wait.

This was his room.

This was his bed.

That was his dad.

It was all a dream.

He smiled and let out a sigh of relief, flopping onto his bed, and curling up in his thick white blankets. His heart was still hammering and his skin was sticky with sweat. He stared at the ceiling, black in the darkness. He took a deep breath then let it all out. A small glow came from the digital clock on his bedside table, which read 12:03 AM

"Drake, what the hell happened? You just started screaming like a banshee, are you okay?"

He stared at the outline of his father, sitting on the edge of his bed. The only light was in the hallway, and Drake couldn't make out the features of his face but he knew that he was worried.

"Mm fine," he responded. "Just a nightmare. Not a big deal."

His father warily but the back of his hand to his son's forehead. After a couple of seconds, he pulled his hand back.

"You don't seem to have a fever. Are you sure you're okay?" His father asked anxiously.

At that moment, Lena came walking into the room, her mermaid pajamas on and her favorite baby blanket in her hand. She let out a loud and obnoxious yawn.

"Hey sweetie, what are you doing up? You should be in bed."

She shot a pointed glare her dad. "It's hard to sleep when your big brother is rolling around in his bed and screaming bloody murder."

Their father sighed. "Alright Drake, you sure you're fine?"

Drake nodded.

"Do you want to tell me about it.?"

Drake shook his head.

"Okay, try to get some sleep. You have school tomorrow. If this happens again let me know, kay? We'll go get a therapist or something."

Drake nodded again.

"Goodnight Drake." His father gave him a quick hug then left the room, Lena trailing behind him. Once they went back into their own beds, Drake looked down at his knees in thought. His back was against the wall and his feet were wrapped in blankets. Eventually he sighed and hopped out of bed and to his small personal bathroom, where he wet his face and dried it with a towel, extinguishing any remaining sweat or panic.

He wrapped himself in his covers once again and laid on his stomach, trying to fall asleep. Yet he couldn't shake the feeling that something just happened. Something important. He didn't know what, but something.

He rolled over onto his stomach. _Get over yourself, it's just a dream. This is what happens when you stay up till 2 in the morning, burning through seasons at a time of MLP. You get some wacko dream about a changeling swarm. You're fine. After all, dreams are just a bunch of random information and memories that your brain hodgepodges together. Nothing to worry about._

But he did worry. It felt real. Most dreams, when one tries to recollect them, come out fuzzy and unclear.

Drake's memory of it was crystal. To him, it didn't feel like a dream, more like he had really been there seconds ago. The pain felt real. He was in control of himself. And that person…

He rolled back onto his stomach and groaned into his pillow. He'd probably forget all about this in the morning. It was just the aftershock he was suffering from. After all, it was just a dream.

* * *

 _ **6hrs later…**_

"...couple of days ago, numerous sightings of a large reptilian came into the Slivercliff police station. Residents say that the beast was the about the size of large dog, and dug through their trash cans. One says that it had large wings on it's back, describing it as a dragon. Although this is unlikely, experts have been sent to search the area, trying to find and identify the creature many have been complaining about. Dr. Hofstadter reports that nothing was to be found, and that the people of Silvercliff are merely inventing it for attention. Until we can officially clarify what's going, on residents are encouraged to lock their doors in-"

Drake's father shut off the radio and sighed.

"Load of hogwash, that's what it is. The people there have always been paranoid. Would you really believe that some sort of dragon is roaming around? Ridiculous."

"Don't Arbor and Debbie live there?", asked Drake.

"Yeah, but I'm not worried. Ain't nothing gonna harm my sugar dumpling. Someone probably just had there pet lizard escape or something."

Lena piped up. "I hope they find a dragon. That would be awesome! I'd take it home when no one is looking, and name it Spike! Just like from My Little Pony! I wonder if he would be able to roast my marshmallows…"

Drake turned around from the passenger seat in his dad's car and turned to his sister. "Seriously? That's what you'd do with a dragon? Make it roast marshmallows? If I had a dragon I'd ride it to school and have it burn Miles and his goons to a crisp."

His dad turned a corner, Drake's high school coming into view. "Is that the guy you're always complaining about? I hope he's not still giving you trouble, son."

"Nah, he's kinda over me. He found this one transfer student that knows 1000 digits of pi."

The van came to a stop in front of the school. Kids came in and out of the school's main gates. Cliques of girls in designer clothes huddled in one corner while the "bad boys" with the loose jeans and hoodie jackets stood somewhere else. Friends talked and smiled, backpacks slung on every shoulder.

"Okay, so thanks for the ride dad! Bye!"

Drake hopped out of the car and started for the doors of the school, navigating the crowded hallways to get to his locker. However, he didn't go far until…

"Drake!"

He internally screamed and turned to his friend with a smile.

"Hey Jason. How's it hanging."

"Good good everything's good. Yesterday, my mom took me to Gamestop I finally got that one Planeswalker that I've been missing. Kiora, Master of the Depths! I already had the duel Nissa deck because a friend of mine had loaned it to me, so you can have it if you want. But know I have the whole collection!" He looked like was about to combust but then took a breath in and regained his calm. "How's your dad doing?"

He knew this would come up somehow.

"Oh, he's doing good. Almost better! Heh heh…"

Jason smiled warmly, then began talking about his Magic: The Gathering club after school.

However Drake was cut from listening, because it happened.

It happened so fast he was barely able to register it. He was only fully aware of what happened a couple of seconds later, and by looking at Jason's curious expression.

Jason was talking and Drake had been listening.

Drake closed his eyes to blink.

When he opened them, he felt like he was in completely different world.

The school hallway had been filled with different colored mists. They swirled around people, constantly in motion, and appeared to have the texture of smooth paint, yet they were slightly transparent. It looked like someone had pulled them out of a rainbowfied version of Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night. Some were yellow, some were blue, and some were pink, but were most were gray. Only one in the background was fiery red. Some were large and spun very quickly around their host, while others were simply small wisps. Other's looked like clouds of fog, while others simply looked like a misty light surrounding an individual. Whether the were a solid a liquid or a gas, he couldn't tell. Each color had something unique about it. The yellow ones had bright white cores. The blue, moved in wobbly and wavy lines. Occasionally, a purple spark of electricity would surround someone. He saw so many things, he couldn't process them all at once. Jason's colors were yellow and orange, small little circles popping out of the orange's tail. But something about the pink aura's, mostly shining off the girls, pulled him towards it. A small voice in the back of his mind told him that he needed it, and he took a small step forward.

But then he blinked.

The world was reverted back to it's uncolorful demeanor.

Drake shook his head and stared at Jason like a blind person seeing the world around him for the first time.

His geeky friend reflected the same worried expression, looking at Drake with and almost frightened expression. He took a step back, slowly and cautiously.

"Dude…?"

Drake was looking frantically around, looking for any sign that the madness he had just witnessed wasn't just in his head. When nothing had changed or looked remotely abnormal, Drake turned back to his friend.

"DID YOU SEE THAT?!" Drake screeched.

Jason gulped, looking visibly uncomfortable. "What?"

"The-the…colors! Colors everywhere! Swirling and…everywhere...WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT? There were everywhere! Pink and lightning and paint colors and...lots of stuff...No one moved NO ONE! The pink stuff was like...uh-uh-uh-uh really….colorful clouds….everywhere….bubbles rainbow... Was that magic? Is this fuckin' HOGWARTS?"

He screeched last word, causing a couple of other poor students to start walking faster away from the two boys.

Jason took three more steps back, and Drake realized he was scaring the crap out of his friend and everyone else around him.

Drake looked at his friend with pleading eyes.

"Did you seriously see none of that?"

Jason took a deep breath in, looking everywhere except his friends eyes.

"Listen Drake, I don't know what you saw, but I know what I did."

"...I don't understand. What did you see? Did you see those colors too?"

"No. I have no idea what in the hell you saw, but dude, I swear to god, your eyes."

Drake felt a nervous pit in his stomach. "Wh-what about my eyes?"

"They were blue."

"No they're not, they're brown. Are you color blind?"

Jason began growing impatient. "They were blue. They're normal now, but that's not why I'm freaking out. Not only was the iris blue, but the entire eyeball! Like, there was no white! Or pupil! You looked like an alien!"

Drake's heart began to pound. His head began to spin. It was almost impossible to believe that that whole conversation even happened. Before either him or Jason could say anything else, Drake turned on his heel and began sprinting down the hallway, ignoring Jason's protest of "Wait!"

He shoved through the crowd trying to make his way to the place he was originally trying to go: his locker. As he ran, thoughts swarmed in his head like a bunch of flies banging uselessly on a window pane. He felt like he was on the verge of a migraine. He pushed his way to his locker, then put his head against it, blocking out the rest of the world and leaving himself alone with his thoughts.

Great, he thought to himself. _You scared the crap out of your friend and then you start hallucinating. He chuckled to himself, although he found nothing about his current situation funny. I think you probably put cleaning products in your cornflakes this morning instead of milk. What the hell. What. the. Hell. Hell. Hell. hell hell hell hell hell hell hell hell._

He began banging his head slowly on the wall, unsure of how to walk away from this.

Well, like mom used to say, the past is in thepast, and there is nothing to do except change the future.

He really missed her. Maybe after school today he'd visit her.

Sighing, he opened his locker and got all his necessities for his first class of the day: English.

Which, by looking at the digital clock on his arm, he only had 30 seconds to get to!

Panic shooting throughout his entire body, he hastily jerked an arm inside his locker and grabbed a handful of books, dashing down the hall like a complete fool.

He he burst inside of his classroom in the nick of time, all the other students turning to look at him.

It was a rather dull classroom, with nothing more than a white board and the teacher's desk adorning it. A small globe sat on the wooden desk, and the desks were set up in a perfect symmetrical order: 6 rows and 4 columns. But even more boring than the whole room put together, was the teacher, Ms. Pente.

Emphasis on the Ms.

She is a sad, lonely woman who has no children and no spouse, and she blames everyone around her for her miserable life. People avoid her whenever they can, as she will likely snap at them for not standing straight or something.

She eyeballed him when he walked into the room, finding his desk and putting his books inside of it.

"Ah, Mr. Traffer. Late again are we? Detention."

"But it was only 5 sec-"

"I don't care. Late is late. Detention is detention. Now open your textbooks to page 107. Now!"

The sound of pages turning filled the room as everyone was frantically trying to find the right page.

"We were learning about the proper way to use who and whom. Something even this class full of 15 year-olds can still not figure out!"

Everyone began slinking in their seats, shameful. Until Pente spoke up.

"SIT UP!"

They sat up.

Ms. Pente growled like a bulldog then began writing notes on the board, which the class was supposed to copy down on a separate sheet of paper.

However, right after one sees a hurricane of magic colorful blobs swirl through the room and their friend tells him that their eyes changed colors, it makes it hard to concentrate on something as mind-numbing as pronouns.

 _Why the hell would my eyes change? Maybe it was a trick of the light or something, cause that stuff doesn't happen! What am I, slowly evolving into a Martian or something? This is stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Mom would know what to do. There's no one I can talk to about this. Dad's an imbicile, Lena's a brat, Arbor will think I'm insane, and so will the rest of my friends. Jason probably went and told them already about how I lost my mind in the hallway. Was I really the only one who saw that? No one else even moved. Hell, did it even happen? Am I just going insane? Am I sniffing drugs in my sleep or something? Are-_

"TRAFFER!"

Drake sat bolt upright, staring straight at Ms. Pente. She stood right in front of him and looked absolutely murderous. Her eyes were bloodshot and too wide to fit on her head.

"May I ask what might be more important than proper grammar?"

Drake thought quickly. "Nothing, M'mam! I was just thinking about how wonderful your hair looks today."

She stared at him, her nose 6 inches away from his, piercing black eyes looking at his very soul, when…

She stood up and began running her fingers through her hair, bright red and in a messy curly bun. She practically radiated with pride.

"Why, I just got it colored yesterday! I'm so glad you noticed!"

Drake let a breath he was holding in loose. She really was thick, wasn't she?

"Now, for your wonderful compliment, I think I might just revoke that detention of yours."

Drake internally did a fist pump as Ms. Pente turned back to the board.

He looked around. His classmates were staring at him with open mouths, incredulous looks on their faces. He swiveled in his chair, so his legs were facing his right, and he mouthed to everyone:

"That is how you get it done." A smug look adorned his face. He was proud of himself.

He turned back around in his seat, to face his teacher.

If Drake had a quarter for every time something weird happened today, he would have $0.75. Counting the dream, the radio report and whatever the fuck happened while he was talking to Jason. He was about have a dollar.

Absentmindedly, Drake ran his tongue over his teeth, half listening to Ms. Pente lecture. What he felt made him gag on his on spit.

His tongue. It felt forked.

He sat bolt upright, moving his tongue around his mouth, trying to produce an accurate picture in his mind of what it looked like. He could feel two split ends flailing around in his mouth.

Yep. Definitely forked.

He could swear his heart stopped beating for five seconds.

He did the most reasonable thing he could in that instant.

" _Ihavetogotothebathroomokaybye!"_

He was so scared and had so many thoughts going through his head at the moment and was running so fast that…

He was in the bathroom. He hardly even remembered getting there. He did a quick scan of the room around him, back to the door.

He was alone. Good.

Slowly and shakily, he stepped up in front of the dirty sink and looked at himself in the mirror. His reflection stared back at him. He looked normal.

He opened his mouth and let his tongue fall out of his mouth.

It was long and slender, two split ends making up the tip. It hung a little way's past his chin.

Well shit, his expectations of how the day was going to play out had changed dramatically.

His vision blurred and a pang of nauseous excitement ran through his body.

 _Okay, Okay, Okay, no reason to overreact. This is a dream. It must be! This stuff only happens in the movies! Or bad Fanfictions! Not real life! Maybe I'll wake up if I pinch myself… Ow. Nope. Maybe the movies aren't always right. I just need to calm down and keep my mouth closed and ignore the fact that I'M TURNING INTO A GODDAMN SNAKE._

He slid his god awful tongue back into his mouth, where it somehow fit. He just shouldn't talk. Yeah. Maybe it will go away. Yeah.

But what if it doesn't? What if you start growing scales or creepy eyes and then the throw you in a lab and run test on you and-

Fuck this. He didn't know what to do. He had no fucking idea what to do. But at that moment, the bathroom door opened, and a kid that looked like a junior walked in. Good thing Drake's mouth was closed. As he came in, Drake went out, and was greeted with hallways full of students.

1st period was already over.

Only 6 more to go.

And then, if the tongue stays, maybe his whole life.

Yippee.

* * *

"Can someone tell me what the cell membrane is made of? Anyone? Luke?"

A boy in the back of the class spoke. "Phospholipids and...um… uh… is that it?"

Mrs. Clare sighed. "Close! There are also protein channels as well. Now, last week we were talking about transport between these channels. If a particle floats into the cell membrane and happens to pass through these channels, without the use of energy, would that be active or passive transport?"

A couple of students raised their hands, but a boy in the back of the classroom caught her eye. He was nervously glancing around the classroom, and judging by the way he kept tugging on the collar of his shirt, she could infer that he was probably sweating.

"Drake?", Mrs. Clare tentatively asked.

When she called his name he gave a small jolt in his seat and stared at her with eyes as big as dinner plates and pupils the size of pinpricks. His reaction reminded her of her son, and how he likes to play this indie horror game. What was it...uh...Five Nights at Fred's? Something like that. She had often poked into her son's room while he was playing the game, and the way Drake reacted was almost equivalent to they way her son would jump in his seat when one of the overgrown and creepy teddy bears would jump in his face.

"Drake, do you know whether the example I gave was active or passive transport?"

Drake shook his head.

"Are you sure? You always come in my class so well prepared. Is something wrong, hon? Do you need to go up to the nurse's? You're not looking too well…"

Drake shook his head again.

"You sure?"

He nodded. His lips, she noticed, were pressed so tight together that the red from them was almost completely gone, they were thin and white.

"Okay…"

She turned back to the rest of the class, sighing. Poor kids. They must be so overwhelmed.

* * *

Drake was overwhelmed. Someone had tried to talk to him, and he was scared half to death that even if he answered with a hand over his mouth, he might hiss when he makes the 's' sound. Everyone was already looking at him funny. He was lucky none of his friends were in Biology with him.

He was just about ready to flip a pretty little bird at life.

But then it happened.

Right as the teacher turned her back, everything went to shit.

A sudden, jarring pain exploded from his hand, causing him to shout out in surprise. He clutched his arm and hissed in pain through his teeth as the exploding sensation kept spreading. He was faintly aware of someone calling his name, and many eyes on him, but he was busy focusing on something else.

He felt the skin on his hand stretching and hardening slowly, as if crusting over and peeling off, it being constantly stretched and remolded.

The world was spinning. His vision blurred and his mind was having trouble producing a single coherent thought. Despite his situation, he stood up and bolted for the door, slamming into some walls on the way out.

He ran once again down the hall.

He ran as fast as he could muster.

He could feel that burning sensation in his hand...spreading.

It all seemed like a dream. He didn't even know whether he was breathing or not.

He found the bathroom door and scrambled inside, quickly locking himself in one of the stall doors. Out of weakness, he fell to his knees as the most pain he had ever experienced in his life took place.

His bones felt as if they were snapping in half, his muscles were moving against his will, his skull was becoming elongated and it took everything he had not to scream like a newborn baby. His very eyeballs felt like they were on fire and his skin felt like something was crusting all over. His fingers were melting into his hand. He laying was on the floor now. His teeth were growing, his tongue was splitting something was sprouting from his head, his tailbone, his shoulder blades, he wanted it all to end. Make it stop. Stop STOP STOP...

"STOOOOOP"

He screamed the last part. As fast as everything came, it stopped so suddenly that it jarred him to suddenly not be in excruciating pain.

Everything was quiet.

His senses returned to him.

He could feel the cold, hard slightly-wet tile floor underneath him.

He could hear the faint ticking of the clock above the sinks.

But something was wrong. He wasn't him. In other words, he didn't feel like Drake. His body didn't feel right. His legs felt jointed in the wrong way.

He took a breath in through his mouth, heavy and satisfying.

Even the way the air got to his lungs felt off.

Slowly and cautiously, he cracked an eye open.

His vision swam but straightened itself up momentarily He stared at the dull white paint of the ceiling, a small circular light bulb in the center.

What the Hell…? Why…? He began to try and sit himself up by using his hands to push himself off the ground. He put one "hand" in front of his face and his mind shattered into a million pieces.

Right in front of him, there was a slender black object filled with holes. At first, he didn't know what it was supposed to be, but his realization came when he gave his arm a shake.

The thing shook instead.

In less than an instant, he was more alert a police dog on focus medication, sleepy and dizzy demeanor instantly gone.

He sat up immediately, ignoring how wrong it felt and the fact that he was sitting on his haunches, legs curled up at his sides like a dog. He brought his trembling swiss-cheese resembling appendage up to his face.

With his hours of time holed up in his closet and surfing the web, he was fully aware of what black object that replaced his hand was.

It was a hoof.

A hoof he knew very well.

 _No..._

Breathing heavy, he glanced his head down at the rest of his body.

Drake fought the urge to vomit.

His skin was black. He had no hands or feet. He had the body formation of a quadruped, and they way he sat confirmed it. Everything was full of holes. His clothes hung loosely over his now much smaller body. He twisted his head around and turned to look at his back. A small tail protruded from his tailbone. It had the appearance of spider silk, short and holey.

 _No…!_

With a small gentle shimmy, his clothes came loose and slid right off his back, allowing him to get a full look at himself. His back was made up of a light blue shell, resembling a beetle in some ways. But the main thing that had his interest was a pair of translucent insect wings, perched innocently upon his shoulder blades. Staring at them intently, he gave the an experimental twitch.

They fluttered a few times.

 _NO…_

He reached a hoof up, feeling something long black and pointy resting in the center of his forehead.

 _NO…!_

No thoughts were running through his head. He had nothing to say. He didn't know what to do. Time had stopped. His breath came quicker, he could feel his tiny little heart beating as fast as a mouse running from a 10 ft tomcat, barely able to distinguish the intervals in which it beat.

Standing up, trying to get a hang of the new pair of limbs he was granted, he raised a hoof to the locked bathroom stall door, slowly bringing a hoof behind it and flipping the latch open. A small part of him was thankful this hadn't been any other lock, or he'd be screwed.

The door swung wide open, and Drake clambered on top of the toilet seat, new joints not cooperating with what he wanted them to do. He looked forward, for right across from the toilets were the sinks and mirrors, and being on top of the toilet helped him see.

He looked in the mirror.

A monster stared back at him, and that's when everything began to fall back in place, and everything began working again. His panic levels began to skyrocket.

Staring back at him in the mirror, was a changeling. From the kids show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. It had piercing blue eyes with no pupil, fangs that jutted out from its upper lip, and an insect-like form, black chitin covering every surface.

It also had a absolutely terrified look on its face and eyes so wide, they took up almost his entire face.

Thank God the bathrooms were empty then, or the boys that would enter would act like bats out of hell.

Drake tilted his head to the side.

So did the changeling.

Everything began coming together in his mind as it finally registered what was happening.

That Changeling. That was him.

He was a changeling.

Sitting on a toilet.

In a heavily populated middle school.

Fan-fucking-tastic

 _What the hell? I'm a changeling? HOW? WHY? WHAT?! This only happens in fanfictions written by overly energetic bronies! Nonononono How do I change back? Wait change… Can I change into something else? Can I turn back into me? That won't fix the problem though because I'll still be an EFFING CHANGELING._

He hopped off the toilet and wobbled as he stuck the landing, slowly peeking out of the stall and glancing at the clock hanging above the entryway.

It was about 10:55.

5 minutes until 2nd period ended and the school was given a 10 minute break.

5 minutes until the school would be flooded with students and he would no longer be alone.

Could it get any worse?

A pound came from the door, causing him to flinch, news ears flattening against his skull.

 _WHY? Why did you have to jinx it you moron?! You've watched enough TV to know that everytime someone says that, it UNDOUBTEDLY gets worse! What do I do ohhhhhhhh…_

He began trotting in place glancing around for somewhere to hide.

The gentle voice of Mrs. Clare was slightly muffled behind the bathroom door. "Drake, sweetie, are you okay? Is everything alright in there? Are you sick? Should I come in?"

Of course she would be worried. He had bumbled from her classroom like he was about vomit, bleed and have a stroke at the same time, of course she'd want to come check on him. Well done, Drake. Very subtle.

"Honey, are you there? I'm going to come in okay?"

There was only one word to describe his current situation.

Screwed.

Drake was completely and utterly screwed.

Oh joy.


End file.
